Spin welded applicator



Aug.y 16, 1966 G. scHwARTzMAN 3,255,079

SPIN WELDED APPLICATOR med April 2, 1964 @fi/Wm f United States Patent OM' 3,266,079 SPIN WELDED APPLICATOR Gilbert Schwartzman, 20 WilmotCircle, Scarsdale, N.Y. Filed Apr. 2, 1964, ser. No. 356,916 1 Claim.(Cl. 15--569) This invention relates to an applicator for use inapplying shoe polish, cosmetics or medications and more particularly toa spin welded assembly including a dauber and container.

An object of this invention resides in the provision of means forfacilitating the application of shoe polish or the like. l

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a noveldauber having valve means which is automatic-ally actuated and adaptedto control the flow of shoe polish from a dauber for obtaining an evenilow of shoe polish onto a shoe, the dauber being spin welded to acontainer so as to form a unitary assembly.

A further object of this invention is to provide for better control offluid flow Iof material being applied while also providing for aleakproof, spillproof package for the material to be applied, whicheliminates the necessity for a container having an elongated neckthereby saving on material costs.

It is highly desirable that packages for shoe polish, variousmedications, and cosmetics be spillproof and leakproof because of thepermanent stains that can result when the material in the package isreleased due to accident or inadvertence. Accordingly, it is anadditional object of this invention to provide a spillproof,substantially shatterproof, leakproof unitary applicator, which can beeasily assembled and lilled.

In the past daubers have been constructed which are provided withprojecting portions which are inserted in the necks of containers. Theseprojecting portions *have all been of reduced cross sectional dimensionsto allow for proper construction and operation of the valve assembliesof these daubers. The containers used with such projecting portions havenecessarily been constructed with elongated necks. Modern packagingtechniques and styles are eliminating such containers with elongatednecks in an attempt to render packages more compact, streamlined andeye-appealing. Further, in modern packaging there is an ever-increasinguse of various synthetic plastics such as polyethelene and polyurethanefor the production of substantially unbreakable containers.

Accordingly, it is another object of this invention to provide anapplicator having -a dauber with a compressed body disposed between thedauber cover and the valve member, which compressed body will permit uidflow to other parts of the cover and into the space between the coverand the retainer ring, and which assembly conveniently permits thefilling of the applicator by means of a needle insertable through thecover and compressed body and past the valve member.

Still another object and feature of this invention resides in theprovision of an applicator which is inexpensive to manufacture, simpleto lill with fluid of various viscosities in an elfective manner so thatthe dauber is especially adapted for use in applying shoe polish,medications, cosmetics, oils, polishes and the like, and whichapplicator may be made in any convenient size as desired.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of theinvention, which will become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by this dauber, a preferred embodiment of which-has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings, by way of exampleonly, wherein: Y

FIG. 1 is an exploded vertical sectional view illustrating componentelements of the applicator;

Patented August .16, 1966 FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustratingthe lapplicator in an assembled state;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2, butillustrating the applicator with the valve assembly in an open position;

FIG. 4 is a sectional detail view of another embodiment of theapplicator including a compressed body forming a part of the dauber,with the Vvalve assembly in a closed position;

FIG. 5 is a sectional ViewV ofthe embodiment of FIG. 4, but illustratingthe dauber in use for application of shoe polish or the like; and v FIG.6 is a perspective View of the applicator.

With` continuing reference lto the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views,reference numeral 10 is used to generally designate t-he applicatorcomprising the present invention. This applicator includes two mainparts, a container 12 formed of a suitable plastic material such aspolyethylene, polyurethane or the like, and a dauber assembly 14 adaptedto be permanently fused t0 the container 12. The daubervassembly 14includes a valve housing 15 having a ange 16 provided with a swaged lip18 for retaining a disc 20 in position between the lip 18 and rib 22 ofcircular configuration.

The disc 20 is -constructed of two layers, the upper layer 21 of whichis formed ,of nylon .knitted 'brushed fabric so as to achieve alfelt-like applicator surface and appearance, .while having the-chemicalinertness `and strength of the nylon. Laminated and bonded to the nylonknitted brush fabric is t-he lower layer 23 of coarse polyurethane foam.

The housing 14 is provided with a tapered web 26 which has an arcuateopening 28 therein which is of approximately one-half of the diameter ofthe web 26. Cooperating with the arcuate tapered web 26, which serves asa valve seat, is the conical surface 30 of a valve member, forming partof a valve assembly generally indicated at 24. The valve assembly 24includes a spring 32 formed in helical. coils, the portion of smallerdiameter being se cured or integrally formed at 34 with the truncatedconically-shaped valve head 36. The lower end 38 of the spring 32 is inthe form of la ring and is held `in place in the housing 15 by theswaged end 42 of the housing 15. The swaged end 42 thus retains thevalve assembly 24 within the housing 15 with the spring 32 in acontinuously stressed condition under compression so that thecylindrical portion 40 of the valve head 36 is continuously urged intoand through the opening 28 for the purpose of closing the opening 28 andpreventing fluid llow from the container 12 into the space between theweb 26 of the housing 15 and the cover 20. The cylindrical portion 40 isprovided with a rounded end surface 41.

In the form of the invention as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 there is disposedbetween the valve head 36 and the cover 20 a cylindrical Abody 5l) ofcoarse polyurethane .foam which is continuously compressed and serves tolbulge the cover 20 in a convex manner. The valve head 36 iscontinuously biased into engagement with the compressed body 50 furthersqueezing the body. However, as shown in FIG. 5, when the applicator isused for applying shoe polish or other uids, the cover 20 is depressed,forcing the compressed body 50 slightly into the opening 28 and openingthe valve by depressing the valve head to permit passage of fluid in adirection indicated by arrows A, FIG. 5, whereby fluid will not onlysaturate the polyurethane foam 'body 50, but will saturate the cover 20.Since the inner or lower layer 22 is of a polyurethane foam, it willabsorb and retain suicient iluid so that the dauber will be able toprovide a uniform coating of shoe polish on the surface being treated.

One of the advantages of the compressed body S is that it provides incontinuous contact with the cover a source of liuid and will absorb allthe excess iluid in the space 52 which remains'there after the valveassembly 24 has moved to its valve clos position, thereby preventingleaking or spil-ling of fluid out of and beyond the cover 20.

.Depending mainly upon the size of the compressed Ibody 50, the cover 20may be stretched to assume various shapes. It has `been found that forapplication of shoe polish, a hemispherical shape is preferred becauseotherwise hard to reach places can be easily given an adequate coatingof shoe polish.

Integrally formed and molded with the housing is a ange 56 which extendsoutwardly normal to the housing 1S and its outermost edge 58 lies Hushwith the outer surface of `the container 12. Downwardly extending fromthe flange is a lip 62 which has a V-shaped groove 64 in the lower edgethereof. The groove 64 facilitates better integral bonding during spinwelding of the container 12 with the lip 62.

The container 12 is provided with an upper portion 66 of reduced wvallthickness adapted to lie aga-inst the lip 62 kwith the grooved lowered-ge of the lip abutting against the yinterior shoulder 68. Thecontainer 12 and dauber assembly 14 are then spin welded together tofuse the container 12 to the dauber assembly 14 to form the unitaryintegral applicator.

In order to ll the applicator, a needle on the order of -a hypodermicneedle is inserted through the cover and the valve head 36 is depressedallowing the container `to be lled.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 has an unusual and unexpectedadvantage. When filling the container 12, the needle vwill pierce thecover 21 and the body 50. However, after filling, the body 50 will moveslightly with respect to the cover 20 upon release of the valve head 36causing a labyrinth blocking of the opening caused by the needle,exceedingly small as it is thereby preventing leakage by any type offluid used.

The container 12 may be of any convenient size and shape. A cap 76 isprovided and may be of a snap-lit type arranged with groove 77 thereinand to snap over the swaged end 18. A detent 78 may be provided tofacilitate removal of the cap 76.

A latitude of modication, change and substitution is -intended in theforegoing disclosure, and in some instances some features of theinvention will be employed without a corresponding use of otherfeatures. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claim becontrued broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit and scope ofthe invention herein.

I claim:

An applicator comprising a housing, a first flange halving a swaged lipintegral with said housing, said housing having a web extendingtransversely thereof, said web havin-g an opening therein forming avalve seat, a rib on said web surrounding said opening, a cover securedto said housing between said lip and said rib, a springpressed valvemember provided with a valve head having a rounded end surface, saidvalve member being secured in said housing and movable with respect tosaid valve seat to control fluid .flow through said opening, a resilientcylindrical porous body disposed in the space between said cover andsaid web, said body when not compressed being of such dimensions thatsaid body ris thicker than the space between said cover and saidhousing, said body having a diameter substantially greater than saidopening and no greater than said rib, said body being en- -gaged by saidvalve head so las to be continuously under compression with said Ibodybeing laterally movable over said rounded end surface, said applicator4being illable through said cover and said body so that after llinglateral movement of said body enable said `body to form a labyrinthstop, a second flange integralpwith and extending outward-ly of saidhousing normal thereto, a downwardly extending lip integral with saidsecond flange extending downardly from said second ange inwardly of theperipheral edge thereof, and a container having an upper portion ofreduced wall thickness, said upper portion surrounding and abutting-said downwardly extending lip and `being fused thereto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,095,598 7/1963Gonnella et al. 15-571 3,129,452 4/ 1964 Schwartzman 15-566 3,133,3075/1964 `Steinberg et al. 15-563 3,161,904 I12/1964 Goldich 15-563RCHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

S. E. BECK, PHILIP R. ARVIDSON,

Assistant Examiners.

